About Me

U.S. Supremes Grant Review of Walmart Class Action

So, I have posted on Dukes v. Walmart for a few years now... here and here. This is the class action involving potentially 1.5 million current and former Walmart employees all over the country.The U.S. Supreme Court decided to consider some issues that arise in federal class actions:

Whether claims for monetary relief can be certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2)—which by its terms is limited to injunctive or corresponding declaratory relief—and, if so, under what circumstances.

and

Whether the class certification ordered under Rule 23(b)(2) was consistent with Rule 23(a).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 governs class actions. So, that's what the court is referring to above. In essence the court is deciding whether and to what extent a court can order money to be paid if a class action is certified under Rule 23(b)(2), which is supposed to apply only to class actions seeking injunctions.

Yes, on the surface, the legal issues may read like real snoozers for HR and most employment lawyers. But the case is gold for civil procedure junkies. And don't let all that civil procedure jargon fool you. The stakes are incredibly high and the court has the opportunity to shape how federal class actions in discrimination cases may be asserted. The court's decision could well shape how multi-state employers implement policies to avoid class action treatment of seemingly unrelated decisions.... So, stay tuned!